Prologue: The Last of the Aura Guardians

High up in the Galar region mountains laid a small secret village where humans and Pokemon were one with nature, there were no signs of modern technology within the village and Pokemon both wild and tamed resided within the village alongside their human friends, guardians and protectors.

The men and women of the village were all dressed in hooded robes as they traversed the area, apart from one who stood atop the roof of the tallest building with a Lucario whose fur appeared to have a golden color to it, the two seeming to take their roles as protectors rather seriously as their eyes constantly scanned the horizons as if looking for signs of potential threats. Their eyes soon darted to a Corvisquire as it landed in the center of the village, letting out a cry as a letter could be seen tied around it's talons.

One of the others walked to the Corvisquire and opened up the letter, a look of worry crossing his face as he shouted out for the leader of the clan.

"Master Gloria!"

An older woman appearing to be in her early thirties walked on out of a nearby hut, her long brown hair flowing with the wind as she narrowed her brown eyes at the other guardian. "What is it?"

"Our brothers and sisters in the Unova region stopped responding to our letters!"

Gloria got a grim look as she clutched her fists, looking towards a young boy that resembled her running around the village playing with his Riolu.

"This isn't good..."

"I could have told you that, sis." The man with the shiny Lucario leaped down from the building. He had a light skin tone, his brown hair and chocolate brown eyes made him out to be Gloria's twin as they appeared to be within the same age range. "The Kanto and Johto branches went silent weeks ago, somebody is clearly targeting us! And let's not forget what happened to Hilbert, he returned to Unova two years ago to look into matters over there and never returned!"

"All we ever found of him was the scarf I made for him..." Gloria looked saddened as she gazed towards her son, who was currently wearing said scarf as he raced around the village. "He'd never have left it..."

"Obviously, you two were so annoyingly lovey dovey..." Her brother muttered before shaking his head. "Look, I know I refused the title of leadership when father passed as I prefer working in the field but right now, I suggest that I take over and you run, if the other villages were attacked then nothing is stopping them from coming here and wiping us out! Protect the boy,"

"I'm not running," Gloria shook her head with a firm look across her face while her brother narrowed his eyes in response.

"You were always stubborn as a Mudsdale, if we all die then whose going to stop the Darkest Day?! It's our duty to protect the legendary and mythical Pokemon of each region!"

"And you have the brains of one, there is no way that they'll find us here. We've lived in these mountains for decades and have had little contact with the outside world!"

"Victor's right, you know." Another voice could be heard as a new figure arrived wearing robes quite similar to theirs but in a different style. Sweat could be seen falling down his face as his robes were also torn and appeared to have been ripped slightly.

"Master Gurrkin?!" Gloria's eyes widened as she saw their Kalosian brother. "W-What are you doing here?"

"I-I've come to warn you..." His breath was quite heavy, his eyes were focused elsewhere however as they followed a young girl that had arrived with him, who'd taken to running and playing with Gloria's son. "The Kalos branch... is gone, Korrina and I are the only surviviors. I'm out and going to live a nice and peaceful life so my granddaughter can live safe from harm. I suggest that you do the same for your boy, Zach."

Gloria narrowed her eyes at the Kalosian elder. "You ran?!"

"Gloria, he's the village elder. His son was the leader-" Victor paused as he saw Gurrkin lower his head. "But he's right, you should really go-"

"I'll never leave my clan, they and the Pokemon that reside here depend on me!" Gloria stomped her foot stubbornly. "I'd never betray them by running away."

"T-There's more... r-remember young Ghetsis from the Unova branch?"

"The entitled jerk?" Victor growled out. "I remember him all too well..."

"He betrayed his clan and is helping to destroy the other clans across the world, it's only a matter of time before he and his men arrive here and that's not all. The Kanto and Johto branches disappearing was no mere accident either, it was Master Red he-Ghetsis is working for him!"

Victor and Gloria looked at each other with alarmed expressions. "Y-You sure?" Gloria asked.

"I always knew he was power hungry, being the World Champion and the leader of the Kanto guardians wasn't enough for that self righteous asshole and now he's gunning for world domination!" Victor growled out. "Forget running, let's go end him now while there's still enough of us to put up a proper fi-!"

A loud roar could be heard as a massive three headed dragon Pokemon appeared in the skies above shortly before sending a beam of orange-yellow light down upon Victor, the man let out a painful cry as he was sent flying into a building, it caving in on him mere seconds later with a blood covered hand poking out of the rubble for a few seconds before going limp.

"Korrina!" Gurrkin raced for his granddaughter while Gloria looked up at the Dragon Pokemon with determination and hatred both flaring intensely within her eyes.

"Gurrkin... take Zach and go!" She whipped out a Pokeball, releasing a Dragonite before taking off into the skies.

"Burn baby, burn! Hahaha!" A man with fiery red hair and a crazed look in his eyes sent out several Fire type Pokemon who began burning down the village buildings.

Battles erupted in the street as Lucario and their trainers fought off against Ghetsis' allies.

Gurrkin looked up as he raced to grab Korrina, quickly picking her up before hastily looking around for Zach, panicking as he saw the young boy and his Riolu bravely attempt to charge at a nearby Metagross, only being saved by Gurrkin's Lucario who quickly scooped them with his paws while letting out an annoyed growl.

Gurrkin then released an Salamence which he had on loan from his friend and current Kalos champion, Drasna. He helped Korrina get on board Salamence's back while Lucario hoisted up Riolu and Zach, an annoyed look on the elder jackal's face as he growled out at their struggling. Gurrkin took a look back at Gloria and her Dragonite before quickly taking off, knowing what was to come and not wanting to be there when it happened.

They'd got clear of the mountains rather quickly but it wasn't long before a colorful blast of psychic energy fired after them, Salamence quickly ducking while Lucario let out an annoyed grunt as he felt his grip starting to slip. Gurrkin glanced back and noticed the Metagross trainer was still following them, his eyes glowing bright blue as he appeared to be keeping Metagross up in the air while the Psychic/Steel Pokemon attacked!

"A psychic master! I thought those were just a myth..." Gurrkin muttered, seeing the man utilizing psychic abilities. "Faster, Salamence!" He tapped a sparkly crystal attached to his arm band, causing Salamence to be encased in a bright pink light as it's body started shifting and enhancing, soon revealing a Mega Salamence!

The psychic trainer gritted his teeth and let out an annoyed growl as Salamence began quickly gaining speed and getting further away from him and Metagross. He narrowed his eyes and gave a command to Metagross without speaking a word as the Pokemon opened his mouth and fired off a powerful blast of orange-yellow energy, striking Salamence in the wing and causing the Dragon type to plummet towards the ground at breakneck speed! The man smirked before turning around, heading back to the direction of Galar as he was sure that nobody survived!

"Pull up, pull up!" Gurrkin shouted desperately as Salamence reverted to his normal form, the dragon not responding until Gurrkin reached forward and shoved a herb into it's mouth, the dragon soon awakening and rightening itself up but unfortunately Lucario lost his grip for a brief second, causing Riolu and Zach to plummet down into the ocean below!

"Carrr!"

Gurrkin quickly looked back and cursed beneath his breath before turning around. His eyes scanning the water quickly while Lucario's eyes glowed bright blue as he read the aura of the area, they kept the search up for hours and throughout the night before eventually being forced to give up. Gurrkin looked up towards the starry sky with a tearful expression.

"I'm sorry Gloria, I failed..."


Miles across the ocean, a soaking wet Riolu worked at pulling his trainer and best friend out of the ocean tide and onto a nearby beach. Zach was currently unconscious, clothes soaked and his breathing slowed down. Riolu gave a worried look and pressed down on his trainer's stomach, summoning what remaining energy he could into saving him, releasing a relieved sigh shortly after he began coughing up water. However that look soon turned to fear as a pack of Mightyena appeared and growled hungrily, Riolu shook but stood with a determined and brave expression as his trainer opened up his eyes. "R-Riolu...?"

"Rio-" Riolu soon collapsed to his knees without them even needing to touch him, the pack began closing in before a Incineroar rushed forward, his body cloaked in fire as he charged through them and sent the Mightyena flying! The Mightyena let out a yelp before making a run for it with their tails between their legs as Incineroar stood over the unconscious jackal and child.

"Incineroar!" A man with a lightly tanned skin tone came racing down the beach, he was wearing pants thankfully but the upper half of his body would have been shown off to the world in it's entirety had it not been for the lab coat that covered his arms and back. The man reached out to pet Incineroar to calm him down as he thought Incineroar had just had one of it's fiery moments where he just raged out for a bit, Incineroar let out a grunt before flickering his eyes towards the ground in front of him causing the professor to tilt his head before looking down and let out a panicked gasp at the condition of the two younglings in front of him. Quickly picking them up before rushing them on back home so that he could get them checked up upon.


Ghetsis stared coldly at the defeated Dragonite and Gloria, both laying on the ground. Dragonite was motionless and not breathing and it looked like Gloria was seconds away from joining her partner.

"T-Tell me... it was you... wasn't it... you killed my husband!" She growled out, Ghetsis replied with a cold smirk to confirm her suspicions. "You b-" She went silent before falling over as she fell into a motionless state.

"It's over... the Aura Guardians are no more."

"Well done, Ghetsis. You've served us well, our master will contact you soon for your initiation." The fire type trainer grinned sadistically as he continued watching the burning village. The Psychic trainer stood silently next to him, not muttering out a word as he silently viewed the carnage that they had unleashed that day.


It had been several days and Ghetsis was now approaching the Game Corner of Celadon City, soon walking on inside before making his way to a poster in the back. He took a quick look around before pulling up the poster and hitting a button behind it, opening up a secret passage that disappeared as soon as he'd entered it.

He walked down a long hallway where several men and women wearing matching sets of black uniforms with giant red R's across their chests passed him by, until eventually arriving at a door which a young male with light blue hair opened up for him, his uniform being slightly different as it looked more impressive than the others. Having a black/dark gray color scheme to it along with the red R being slightly smaller and on a patch directly over where his heart would be.

"You must be Ghetsis," The man looked him over before opening up the door. "Our Boss is expecting you."

Ghetsis nodded his head before entering the room, the lights were out and encasing the other individuals in shadow but he could clearly see the Psychic trainer's robes as he stood alongside the Boss, also known as World Champion Red, secret mastermind behind Team Rocket along with another trainer whose identity was masked behind a golden plated mask while a white robed covered the rest of their body. The fire type specialist's crazy flame-like hairstyle made him stick out like a sore thumb within the batch as he stood by a figure perfectly encased within the shadows, stroking what appeared to be a large lion-like Pokemon beneath the table. Across from them was another impressive looking figure as he stood surrounded by two individuals and their Pokemon bodyguards, a Skuntank and Toxicroak. There were about a dozen others but Ghetsis had a hard time picking out any features or familiarity amongst them.

"Ghetsis," Red spoke up, his voice sounding cold and emotionless, quite unlike the mask he wore in public and at home. "You've done me a great favor betraying our kind and wiping them out, the Cabal thanks you and we'd like to offer you a seat at our table. Together we'll find and capture the rare and mythical Pokemon of the world and use them to further our combined goal of world domination!"

Ghetsis smirked which went hidden due to the darkness of the room before bowing his head. "It was my pleasure, my sir... nobody stands in our way now!"

The room was filled with cheers and jeers from the various villains gathered as they began planning out their goal of world domination!


A few weeks had passed and the professor and his wife were still looking over the rescued individuals. Nobody had reported a boy or Riolu missing within the region and Officer Jenny never got responses for the ad they put up around the island. It was pretty clear now that nobody was coming, he was either dumped or his parents simply didn't make it.

"Burnet, why don't we adopt him?" The professor spoke as his wife looked up from her work with a quizzical expression.

"Hm?"

"The two of us have wanted kids and we don't appear to be capable of having one of our own, this could be our chance! He's a few years old at least but there's still plenty of time that we can spend with him!"

Burnet gazed towards the boy as he and Riolu were busy chasing one another across the house, a warm look filled the woman's eyes before she eventually turned to her husband and gave a silent nod.

"Perfect, I can't wait until he's old enough to start practice battling with me!"

"Who says he'll be a battler? Maybe he'll wanna be a researcher like me!" Burnet replied before the two of them focused their gaze upon their adopted son, looking forward to the future times they'd spend together as a family!

Ash is now forced to deal with a villainous cabal instead of just Team Rocket, it's pretty obvious who two high ranking members are if you played the games or watched the DP/XY sagas but not all the villains/'villains' are involved with the Cabal, I can say right now that Lusamine/Guzma aren't.

Along with having an alternate starter and making essentially an entire different universe, I decided to 'remaster' my old plan for the Cabal and rewrite Red as the evil mastermind. Giving Ash more of a stake in the fight rather than him just being morally good/the chosen one. Along with the personal conflictions he may have when he'll eventually find out. Figured it's better than just another fic where Giovanni is the big bad.

Aura guardians are gone, only a handful of survivors made it and most of them are younglings like Ash, Korrina, and Zach. Or traitors in Red and Ghetsis' case. I'm not going to pull a modern Star Wars where more survivors get discovered all the time, there's only like four others out there but they will remain nameless for now. Will Ash use aura? Possibly but only sparingly if he does. Will he get a Lucario? Hahahaha, NO! It's my favorite Pokemon of all time but seriously, Ash having one is an overdone concept and there are literally a thousand fics where he has one! I'm never giving Ash a Lucario in anything I write.

A few additional points, Ash will get new captures but a few canonical ones will slip in. As for the ships? Well that's a surprise! I'll just say right out the gate that Ash won't get with May or Dawn, they're popular ships but I've never really cared for them. Can't a guy just have close girl friends without it being romantic? I don't want to waste your time if you're hoping he gets with those two cause he won't. Feel free to speculate or say what girls you hope Ash gets with!